Wood ash..?

[FlyWheel]

Their play sand is granular and smooth, like beach sand there is no dust in it. Their general purpose sand is almost all dust which I feel would cake up and harden like concrete if it got wet. That's why I got both; I'm going to mix the two to get a sand of varied grit. hopefully this will help keep it loose even if it does get wet.

 

[azygous]

Any sand that is processed from quartz and has a high silica content and ground very fine is not supposed to be healthy for chickens. You can check under product description on the company website to find out what the makeup of your sand is.

As a rule, the best sand is also the cheapest. Most towns have a quarry and/or a sand and cement yard. Ask for construction sand. It is medium coarse and has enough fine particles for chickens to enjoy dirt bathing in. I buy my sand by the half yard and pay $13 for it and haul it home in my light truck.

I use a more expensive grade of sand in my coops called masonry sand. It's finer but sometimes has larger particles in it that chickens like to pick out for grit. They also find all the grit they need in the construction sand. You can mix fine sand and construction sand.

 

[azygous]

If you have a flooding problem where the dirt bath is going in, try digging it out deeper and installing pea gravel first and the sand on top. That will allow any water to drain out of the layers of sand and into the gravel and away as long as you provide an outlet in the direction of lower land.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

No truck. Just gonna have to buy a couple of bags and then muscle it over to where we want it in the garden cart. But hopefully it'll be a one-time job!

 

[slbenter]

One thing you want to be aware of. Do not allow the wood ash to get wet. It will become caustic to the chickens. Wood ash was used as the alkali in the soap making process. Dry is fine, but when wet it will burn their skin.

 

[Ebony Rose]

Yes, biochar is pretty amazing stuff, but for dust baths I’d stick to wood ash, DE, sand, or fine, dry dirt (mine flock just digs their own spot in the dirt under the coop).

I would avoid DE as it's a respiratory hazard to your birds.

 

[ChemicalchiCkns]

Most towns have a quarry and/or a sand and cement yard.

??!

 

[RoosterML]

??!

Look on google for places that sell sand in your area. For example I have a place close to me called Desiato sand and gravel. You can go fill 5 gallon buckets if you don’t have a truck or trailer. You go on the scale on the way in and out and pay for the weight you have. Google “sand and gravel pits near me” I hope that clears it up for you.

 

[FlyWheel]

Uhm, guys, a little science 101 here; nearly all sand is silica based, as silicon is one of the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. and just about every type of dust is a respiratory hazard. So you really can't win for losing.

There will be a roof over the dust bin, so hopefully that will keep most of the rain out.

 

[ChemicalchiCkns]

That is an odd claim; I wonder if it true that no person lives more than 15 minutes from a sand/gravel place...